Muhammad Ali and the British Consuls

85 Pages·02.189 MB·English

by  Ayyub, Khalil Michael

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ICUHAUUAD AIiX
ARD THB
BRZ7X3H GOR30ia

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XDHâMUP ALI A93) TBB
BRmSH OORS17L9
A AlS8«7tation aohmltteA to th# Department of
Hl8toT7 of the DehooX of Arts mmA
Seleneea of the Anerlean
tmiTeraltf jof Beirut
in partial falfllm ent of the reqalretsenta
for the degree of neater of Arte
by
XHALTL MZOBAEL A tm
Agerieen DnlTeralty of Beirnt.
Belrat, Lebanon, jaly, 1948.
X
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TU» follow ing pages are intended to give th e
Ike.
reader some f ir s t hand Inform ation onf^designs of Bohaonad
A ll Paoha as effected by the general p ello y of the B ritish
Government and the personal a ttlta d e held tow ards him by
the B ritish console In Egypt and S y ria. The oholoe of
the snbjeot was alm ost d ictated by the fa c t th a t I am
onable to read French, the knowledge of which In modern
h isto ric a l research In the fie ld o f modern o rie n ta l
h isto ry , is Indispensable,
Bat If one of the parposes of w ritin g a th e sis
is to affo rd the student the tra in in g necessary fo r
fa rth e r research , i fe e l confident th a t th is work has
achieved its purpose.
K h alil Apyab,
CABza OP o o B m m
I. The Dse&gM of Kttlwnmaft All.
XX. British Bear - ssetem poller in the
period of Koheanad Ali.
III. HohMoad Ali and the British Otmsals,
t-
SEB DSSI0I8 Of MUHAMMAD ALI
Th# Turkish fo ro ss sent to jo in th e B ritish ag ain st
the frenoh in ggypt arriv ed a t the Bey of A ba-zir e a rly in th e
spring of 1801.1 With those fo rces was a young A lbanian
o ffic e r by the name of Muhammad A li.^ At th e tim e of the frenoh
evacuation KuhaemAd A ll had obtained the m ilita ry rank o f 8a r-
oheshme.3 H is manners and courage in th e operations ag ain st
the frenoh and in the events of the two suooeeding y ears
gained fo r him the a ffe c tio n and adm iration of the a n y ^ as
w ell as of the people of Oairo.G At thW period of tim e th ere
were too many contending m ilita ry factio n s in Bgypt to allow
anyone ex ercise re a l au th o rity . But by 1803 Muhammad A ll had
become so popular and in flu e n tia l w ith h is troops* th a t he was
able fiv e months la te r to u tilis e them in expelling frm s Oairo
h is form er a llie s , the Mameluks, and possess him self of the
c ita d e l.?
With th is instrum ent - the army - Huhassnad A ll,
according to M isaett, "arrogated to him self an absolute
au th o rity " disclaim ing a t th e same tim e any so rt of respon­
s ib ility .* O onsequeatly, be lib e ra te d Mahomet pacha (th e
w all of Medina) frw a h is oonfinem ent and caused him to be
proclaim ed paoha o f Bgypt* w ith the expectation of ru lin g
under h is name.^*
1. A W a b a rti, A jaib-ul-A thar f i at-ra ra jim wal-Akhbar,
Bgypt, 1328 a.h . V. l i r p . 168
8. W ilkinson, S ir G ardner, Modem Bgypt and Thebes, London
1843, r . II p. 521. paton A .A ., A H istory of the Egyptian
R evolution, London 1870, v. I I p. 8.
3. W ilkinson^ op, c it. p. 581. A W a b a rti a ttach es to M. A li th e
same rank when he f ir s t makes m ention of h is name. A W a b a rti
OF.
* m§m
Bat Mmhemet paoha was oonpolXod to q a it O airo tho
moment he warn appointed to i t s governm ent, 11 and th e paoha
appointed in h is plaoe found h is p o sitio n ezoeedingly p recario u s,
owing to h is in a b ility to appease e ith e r th e army or the
populace.1* And so , a t the persuasion of ttubaianad A li the
UlMuts and the Oadi deposed Zhourohid paoha and ra ised
Muhammad A ll to the d ig n ity of th a t o ffio el* (May 13, 1808),
an actio n confirm ed by the p o rts a month la te r.
th a t the pashalio of Egypt was the object of
Muhammad A ll's am bition was f ir s t revealed by the B ritish and
French O onsuls. As e a rly as June 1804, M iseett observed th a t
"th at Albanese ch ief h ad ,..g iv en orders to h is banker a t
O onstantinople to spare no expenses in endeavouring to procure
fo r him the d ig n ity of V iceroy."1* Two months la te r M issett
had h is view strengthened by a le tte r he received from Mr,
p etru o o i, B ritish agent a t R o setta,1* and in A p ril 1808 M isaett
w rote th a t Muhammad A ll no longer concealed h is p reten sio n s to
the v ice-ro y alty e f B gypt.1?..................
o p .c it. V. XIX p. 840 (events of jumadah XI 6 , 1817).
4. W ilkinson o p .o it. p. 581-8.
8 . a lH ta fii, Abdul-Rhman, Tarikh al-fiarakah al-Qaomiyyah wa
Tatawwur lisam il-Bukm f i M isr, C airo 1989, T. XI p. 368.
6 . M issett to W. Drummond, O airo, Sep. 30th, IW 3 D ouin, G eorges,
L 'A ngleterre e t l 'Egypte - La P o litiq u e Mameluks 1803-7,
O airo, 1930 v. I I p. 34
7. M issett to Lord H obart. A lexandria, l^ ro h I8th , 1804. Ib id p.
136-7. 8. M issett to Lord H obart, A lexandria, A p ril 86th
1804. Ib id , p, 183
9. M issett to Lord H obart, A lexandria, March 89th, 1804, Ib id ; p .l#
10. M issett to Lord H obart, A lexandria, May 8 8 , 1804, ib id . p. 189
11. M issett to Lord H obart, A lexandria, March 89. 1894, Ib id ; p. 143
18. W ilkinson o p .o it. p. 819.
13. M issett to B ari Gamden,' A lexandria, May 88th , 1808. Douin
op. o it. V. II p. 888.
14. M issett to Oamden, A lex. Ju ly 83rd, 1808. Ib id . 834.
18, M issett to Lord H obart, A lex. June 16, 1804, Ib id . p. 167.
16. M issett to Lord H obart, A lex. August 10, 1804, Ib id . p, 177-8.
17. M issett to Lord Oamden, R osetta, A p ril 8 6 , 1808, ib id . p. 881.
The frenoh OoneaX, D ro v ettl, however, had reoognlaed
th e dealgna of Muhammad A ll apparently la 1808. Xn a rep o rt
which he despatehcA to p arle he w rote, "the neaaoree of the
en terp risin g A lbanian lead er make me th in k he hopes to become
th e paaha o f O airo w ithout fig h tin g and w ithout incu rrin g th e
d ia p le a n rs of the s u lta n ...." ^ *
Bat by 1608 M isaett had observed th a t Muhammad A ll
was not aim ing only a t ru lin g in Egypt, but what was more, a t
rendering him self independent of the p o r t a . L a t e r events,
however, were only to confirm M isaett *s view s,
in H ove^er 1806, Muhammad A ll was reconfirm ed in
th e government of Egypt, and no sooner had th e B ritish evacuated
Egypt in 1807, than he set work to e sta b lish him self perm anently
in h is p ash alio . The f ir s t th in g he did was to lay hands on
A lexandria which c ity was under th e independent command of i t s
commandant. 20 aeoondly. In 1608, taking advantage of ancient
tra d itio n in th e B ile T alley going back to p re-islam ie tim es,
and rely in g upon the K anafi view of land-holding, Muhammad A ll
reasserted the claim of the su ltan to be th e so le p ro p rieto r
of a ll land, a s the S ultan was weak and in e ffe c tiv e th is
measure of the paoha made him the re a l c o n tro lle r of a ll land
in E g y p t , A n d fin a lly , in 1811 he managed to get rid of
h is riv a ls in power, the Mameluke,
18. Douin, Mohamed A li pacha du O airo, p. 38. Of. Dodwell, r ..
The Founder of Modem Egypt, Cambridge 1931, p. 80.
19. M issett to Lord Oamden, A lexandria, September 18th, 1806,
Douin o p .o it. T. I I p. 842.
80. M issett to E arl Oamden, A lexandria, O ctober 80th, 1806,
Ib id . p. 848.
81. This was given by p ro f. Rust «a. See a lso th e A rabic versicm
of O lot Bey, Aperen G eneral su r I'h g y p te, P a ris , 1840,
tra n sla te d by Muhammad Masud v. I i p.
î -4 -
Th* ch ief facto r# which p em ittcA HahanasA A ll
a tta in hi# o b ject #o fa r were th e eh ao tic situ a tio n in Bgypt,
the ineffectiw eness o f the ottom an c e n tra l gow eraacnt, and,
to be disoasBCd la te r, Anglo-French riv a lry in Egypt, fh#
instrum ents o f po licy K ahssm d A li employed in dealing w ith
each of th ese fa c to rs d iffe re d aeoordlngXy, To win the
Egyptians over to h is sid e he made them look a t him as th e
defender o f th e ir rig h ts and the only person capable of es­
tab lish in g order and se o a rity in the country. In h ie d ealin g s
w ith the c e n tra l government he depended f ir s t on h is m ilita ry
foroe , on h is p resen ts to the members o f the D ivan, and by
posing as th e defender of Islam . And la s tly , w ith regard to
the French and the English he accelerated th e ir dissen sio n s
by playing them o ff one ag ain st the o th er, few th a t Muhammad
A ll became im ll estab lish ed in Egypt, h is am bition fo r
independence became aooordir^ly more firm ly rooted in him.
And as la te r events showed, he contlnw d to atta ch s t i l l g rea te r
im portance to those instrum ents of p o licy i have alluded to ,
m 1810 and 1812 he o ffered a llia n c e to both th e
Frenoh and the B ritish resp ectiv ely i f only e ith e r o f them
would recognise him as ru le r of O airo, But both re je c te d h is
o ffe r.2* F ailin g thus to a tta in h is object through fo reign
SM istanoe he reso rted to h is o th er two instrum enta o f p o licy
to which th e Wahabi a ffa ir landed its e lf b e a u tifu lly .
88, D ria u lt, 1 'Em pire da Mohamed A li (1814-83), p . 93; M isse tt,
June 80, 1812, Of. Dodwell o p .o it. p. 39